DIY : Print Your Own Fabric

Hello there, I am Karina from Maple Ash and Oak.Here I will show you a simple and inexpensive way to create your very own fabric pieces.No need for large screens, squeegees, and emulsion. Beautiful prints can be created with simple methods and materials.Most of the supplies are household items and the rest can be found at your local art or craft store. Click below for the how-to:

Start by preparing your print space. I have a portable print table, but you can create your own with a little ingenuity. Cut off about a 9" strip of foam (save this for later). Take the larger piece and place it on your table, a fold out card table works best. Cut the foam in the shape of the table. Take your large cover cloth (make sure it doesnt have a textured weave) and place it over your foam and table. Secure each corner to the leg of the table by tying or taping, just make sure its tight (iron your cloth to make sure there are no wrinkles or folds).

Now you can take your fabric and pin it to your print table. In my samples I use a organic cotton muslin and a cotton/linen blend. Start by pinning the centers of each side and work your way to the corners. I space my pins about 5". Then tape each edge, covering your pins as well. I also used tape to divide my printing space into three quadrants.

Now comes the fun part... creating your designs! Get out your contact paper and start sketching. Bold shapes work great and are pretty easy to draw and cut out. Cut off a large piece of contact paper, about 12"x12" works well, and cut out your design using an exact o knife. Think of the contact paper as the stencil for your design. Save the shapes you cut out, you can use those as well! I've been obsessing over triangles lately so here is one of my stencils:

After the paper is peeled from the contact paper place it on your fabric:

Now take out the extra piece of foam you set aside. Cut it into 4 - 5 square pieces. Fold the corners of the foam together and secure with a rubber band as shown below. These are your printing poofs.

Take out your textile pigments and mix as desired. I use little Tupperware containers and spatulas to mix my special colors. Pour out a little dab onto your plastic tray. Use your dauber, poofy as I call it, and dab until you have a consistent coating.

Place your contact paper (sticky side down) where desired on your fabric and start dabbing the ink.

I use the contact paper triangles I cut out from my design on the right to form a new pattern on my fabric on the left. Move your stencil around your fabric to create super awesome patterns.

Try different things like stamps, daubing through lace, and layering different stencils. Allow each print to dry in between layers.

I hand cut a rubber stamp and used it to create this repeating pattern.

In progress:

Play around with the thickness and texture created with your dauber.

Unpin fabric from your table and iron to heat set your pieces.

I love working with fabric, the possibilities are endless. Use your fabric to truly personalize your home with hand crafted pillows, tea towels, napkins, ect.

Hi all! Thank you so much for your kind words! Im glad you all enjoyed my post.

I used an organic cotton muslin, and also a cotton/linen blend.

I say stay with cotton muslin for your first projects as it's inexpensive, easy to pin and takes the ink like a dream.

As long as you iron your fabric they should be fine to machine wash(on cold!). The more layers or thicker the ink, the longer you should iron your piece. When the print begins to meld into the fabric (you can't feel the ridges of your prints)then it is heat set. Using your dryer set on high always helps as well!

What an easy way to print on fabric! I love it. Sometimes I just can't find what I am looking for and really want to make my own. Other tutorials are so complicated and use specialized equip and supplies that it is a turn off. Thank you so much for sharing this!!

Can't wait to try this. I'm am obsessed with making scarves these days and this will be a perfect way to customize the patterns and the colors I want. Thanks for the simple straightforward instructions.

Thanks for this!!! You gave great ideas and it looks so fun! I'm curious how much those paints are... I'll have to check it out, but they look like a worthwhile investment to have around. Like you said, endless possibilities!

Nice tutorial. I have been fabric painting for years. My favorite thing to paint is to embellish solid color shirts, adding graphic interest to the collar and pockets and down the front button placket. My number one source for fabric paints is Dharma Trading. They have a large inventory and an informative website as well: http://www.dharmatrading.com/topnav/paints/

Thank you, thank you! I've been making t-shirt designs with freezer paper stencils for a while now (much easier than contact paper btw) and have been using fabric paint. After a few washes, it starts to fall apart. I think the textile ink is the way to go. Also, brilliant idea with the poofs.